Paige Bueckers couldn’t have asked for a better personal return to form. The Dallas Wings rookie, who had recently recovered from illness, looked every bit the dominant playmaker fans expected when she was taken first overall.
But even a career-high 35 points from the rising star wasn’t enough to lift her team out of its growing slump. Instead, the Wings dropped their sixth consecutive game, falling 91-90 to the Phoenix Mercury in a matchup that exposed deep cracks in Dallas’ roster execution and defensive discipline.
“Battled some stuff, glad to be back. Excited to keep building, get back on the court,” Bueckers said before the game.
She exploded for 19 points in the first half alone, shooting 8-of-10 from the field. Her final line of 35 points, five three-pointers, six rebounds, and four assists was the kind of outing fans dream of from a top pick. Still, the Wings couldn’t capitalize.
Bueckers’ brilliance overshadowed by team-wide breakdowns
The numbers tell the full story. Outside of Bueckers, the rest of the Dallas roster combined for just 55 points, only marginally above the league average per game without her.
Arike Ogunbowale, typically one of the team’s most reliable scorers, struggled heavily. She missed her first seven shots and finished with just 10 points on 2-of-10 shooting, a far cry from her 26-point outing in the Wings’ previous loss to Minnesota.
What’s more troubling is that this wasn’t just a case of poor shooting-it was a fundamental breakdown in execution. Phoenix lit up the Wings’ defense from deep, knocking down 15 of their 35 three-point attempts for a red-hot 42.9 percent. Dallas, in contrast, hit just 5-of-19 from beyond the arc, converting at a mere 26.3 percent rate.
The defensive effort didn’t fare much better. Dallas committed 15 turnovers, which Phoenix converted into 16 points. The Mercury, by comparison, kept their mistakes to a minimum with just 11 turnovers, leading to only 11 Dallas points in return. Phoenix also held the edge in fast break scoring, outpacing the Wings 13-9 in transition.
According to Wings forward Luisa Geiselsoder, the team’s unraveling had more to do with a lack of discipline than fatigue.
“We didn’t stick to the game plan,” she admitted after the loss, pointing a finger squarely at the execution gap between the locker room and the court.
Head coach Chris Koclanes has emphasized structure and defensive pressure since taking the helm, but the product on the floor hasn’t mirrored those intentions. The backcourt, in particular, struggled to respond to Phoenix’s ball movement and quick perimeter shooting, a key reason why the Mercury controlled the tempo from the second quarter onward.
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